I’ll be home for Christmas

There are two categories every traveler fits into: business or pleasure. Normally, the road warriors (the business travelers), wear a suit or an embroidered polo with the company logo. The men who are traveling for non-work related reasons have a tendency to be pretty sloppy, throwing on literally any old outfit. No, we do not want to see you in your old b’ball shorts and tatty logo tee! So if you fall into the later category, it’s time to step up your flying wardrobe game; You never know who you might run into. The two style guides below also demonstrate a couple of trends that will be seen in Spring’s fashion. You can read last weeks post for the full color range of spring trend colors. I hope you’re inspired!

Depending on your itinerary, a suit or polo is not the only option. I have learned in my travels that the better I am dressed the less stressed I feel when dealing with the airport hassles. A suit is often too restrictive in movement and isn’t the ideal garment to regulate body temperature while on the plane.

The base of this outfit is one of my favorite go-to dress shirt, the Express “1MX” shirt. The reason I like the shirts is because they have extra stretch for movement, and come in a whole selection of colors. If you are stepping into bolder spring colors, remember to tone down the brighter hues with a dark, neutral colored garment over the shirt – a nice cotton cardigan would do the trick. I personally like navy, but gray or black are both good options. I always like traveling wearing a dark denim, but any dress pant would also work with this look.

With the time it takes to get through security at some airports, a bonus traveling tip is to keep your outfit simple. I always choose my traveling outfit with the possibility of having to take all the accessories off for security. Made good choices with your accessories to make the biggest impact to the overall style. A watch is always good to have when traveling. I was surprised to find a watch at Express that caught my eye. It’s casual, but I like the addition of the spring green color stripe in the band. It’s a nice accent to the navy and granita colored shirts. To help lighten up the outfit I selected a light brown boot. A lot of guy boots have the leather detailing work, so choose a boot that fits with your preference. Aldo is always one of my go-to places for men’s shoes. Top the look of with a think scarf and you are polished off. A company called Ful specializes in bags and travel gear, and they have a travel bag that I really dig. It is a rolling bag that has an a detachable backpack. It is a great travel option to maximize that annoying carry-on bag limit.

The majority of people who will be traveling this week will be traveling for pleasure. They are going to meet up with family or friends to celebrate the holiday season. The last thing you want is to show up to see family and good friends looking like you just don’t care. I’m not suggesting anything super dressy or fussy, just an old favorite with some thought put into the color and accessories.

The base of the outfit is a plaid “western style” shirt. When looking for a shirt I wanted to find one that highlighted some of the fun spring colors for guys. Plaid will still be a popular pattern for spring, so you can find a plaid shirt almost anywhere in a color palette you like. I used a heather gray zip up hoodie to tone down the bright color and pattern of the shirt. I found my favorite hoodie at Pacsun that was both soft and perfect for layering. I picked a casual slip on shoe from Aldo to make security easier but also added a graphic foot option. I found a cool selection of colored watches at Urban Outfitters. (Oh by the way, did you know the UO opened at The Fashion Mall? I hope you have checked it out.) I didn’t always dig wearing a hat, but I find myself wearing them more and more. I like wearing just a solid colored hat, however more brands are launching cooler graphic hats. I know, a lot of guys don’t go in for jewelry, but the simple metal necklace with the hook can add a nice touch to any outfit.

The outfit can be worn with jeans or a colored cotton pant, but normally denim is my go-to fabric for travel. Also, you don’t want to wear a well put together look and then ruin it by having an ugly carry-on bag. I love my backpacks and surprisingly they hold a lot more than expected. My favorite bag at the moment is the Tumi “Alpha Bravo” backpack. (It is my last attempt to hope that Santa is a fashion blog reader.)

The better you look, the better you will feel when reuniting with your family and friends. The airport holiday travel is stressful and annoying enough that looking good shouldn’t be another stress. You never know, it might get you bumped up to the front of the plane or something. 🙂 There are benefits to looking good and flashing some style.